“As Jews, we carry a lot of history, a lot of narrative,” according to Mark Tasman.
Therefore, when it comes to Jewish art and artists, the work isn’t just about promoting Jewish religion, or only about “paintings of rabbis dancing with Torahs.”
And to be able to appreciate these works, one must understand the idea of “separating Judaism or religion from secular Jewish culture,” said Tasman, an artist and lecturer in journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Tasman is also the digital arts and culture program coordinator at UWM.
He discussed “Jewish Art: Cultural Identity and Activism” during a lunch and learn session held at the UWM Union on Friday, March 31. Some 40 people attended the lecture, which was presented by the UWM Center for Jewish Studies.
Jewish art, both past and present, serves many purposes, in that it documents injustice, advocates for issues, is political and controversial, addresses identity, and deals with memory, Tasman said.
Tasman showed works by several artists dealing with the Holocaust, including a series by American postmodern artist R. B. Kitaj, depicting his fictional character, Joe Singer, a Holocaust survivor, as well as work by Ben Shahn, an employee of the U.S. Department of War and a social realist photographer and painter.
Tasman said Shahn was “one of the few artists reacting to Nazi atrocities before they were over.” Shahn’s poster, “This is Nazi Brutality,” shows a man with a paper bag over his head, and was issued by the U.S. government in 1943.
Jewish art also can be “a critique of society,” Tasman said, as with the work of postmodern collage artist, Barbara Kruger. Among her well-known works is a layered photograph titled “I shop therefore I am.”
Other Jewish artists deal with “issues of alienation,” such as that of Diane Arbus, who committed suicide in 1971. Tasman showed her photograph, “A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y.” which was taken in 1970.
Tasman presented the works of several other Jewish artists, including Leon Golub, Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Stieglitz, and Robert Capa, among others.
He also discussed other forms of social commentary, including that of British comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen switches between three different characters on his HBO comedy reality series, “Da Ali G Show.”
One of these characters is anti-Semitic Kazakhstan reporter, Borat Sagdiyev.
Tasman called Cohen “a tricky activist” who by acting anti-Semitic himself, “pulls it out of other people,” Tasman said. Though the act is meant to be a satire, Cohen’s performances in this character have caused controversy and drawn attention from the Anti-Defamation League.
Tasman, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, began teaching at UWM in 2001. He received his B.F.A. in studio art from the University of Louisville and his M.F.A in photography from The Ohio State University. He also studied Italian art and art history at Universita per Stranieri di Perugia.
Tasman is a photographer and a self-described “inter-media artist.” He is currently at work on his “new mitzvah” project, an ongoing endeavor in which he takes a Polaroid self-portrait of himself for 10 years. This June 24 will mark the seventh year since he began.
Tasman also has created his own cast of performance art characters, including mythical peace activist, “Choc Latai Tzvi,” also known as “The Chocolate Messiah” (www.chocolate messiah. com). To see these and other projects, visit www.marctasman.com.
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